Two to Tango
by Shadowsnake89
Summary: With new villains on the march, Spidey may find help from a new, unlikely source.
1. Prolgue:Backroom Deals

Epilogue: Backroom Deals

"New York City. Home of the Empire State Building, Wall Street, and the best hot dog stands around." The voice comes from a man of average height with brown hair and blue suit. He is accompanied by a tall slender man in a black suit.

"Focus Harrison." The tall man says very much annoyed by his friend. "Don't forget we got business first, then you can stuff your face."

"I know Marston, just kidding." Harrison replies. The two had just arrived at the airport from Florida to take care of their boss, Montana's problem. Since he, Fancy Dan and Ox had been locked up, Marston and Harrison had been taking jobs as the Enforcers Southern division. Marston hails the two a cab once3 outside and hop in the first one they can get. " Whose the guy who called us up here for the job anyway?" Harrison asks as they make their way to the meeting point.

"Calls himself the Jackal." Marston responds.

"Catchy." The shorter man says jokingly.

Fifteen minutes later they reach their destination, pay the cabby and head toward an old warehouse. "You got in contact with Lavell?" Marston asks.

Harrison looks up at him. "Yeah, since the bar burnt down he's letting us use his old aquarium's back room as HQ." As they enter the warehouse they are greeted by a short man wearing a wolf-like mask, standing in front of two or three tables covered in beakers reminiscent of a low-tech lab.

"Greetings gentlemen." The masked man says with a curdiest bow.

"Hmm, so you're the Jackal I presume?" Marston says looking on curiously.

"Yes," Jackal confirms. "and I have a very interesting proposition for you."

Marston and Harrison both put on a light smile. "We'll see," Marston replies. "we'll see."


	2. Chapter 1

Its early morning in Manhattan and everyone's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is out on a quick patrol before school. It'd been two weeks since his final battle with the Green Goblin and since then organized crime in the city had ground to a snail's pace.

After the short swing to Midtown High and a quick change behind the dumpster later, Peter heads to his locker. He grabs his books and heads for his first class. On the way he notices Liz Allen on her way to class as well. The two hadn't talked since he broke up with her to be with Gwen. With Harry still reeling from his father's death however, she'd decided to stay with the younger Osborn. "Liz," Peter calls to her. She simply ignores him and casually walks in the opposite direction. Peter runs ahead of her and stands in her path. "Liz can we just talk?"

"What's their to talk about Peter?" She asks angrily. "You dump me just so you can be with Gwen, but now that that's not going to happen you think can win me back? Well guess what," She shoves him aside. "that's not gonna happen. Mark was right about you."

Peter stands there as she leaves, still trying to think of something to say. "You alright Pete?" A voice from behind asks. Peter turns around to see Mary Jane looking concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine," He responds. "it's just this thing with Liz,"

"She'll be okay Pete," She says comfortingly, laying her hand on his shoulder. "she's just worried about Mark."

"Anything new about Mark by the way?"

"Nothing really. I just wish we knew who could have done that to him." Her eyes begin to tear up and she quickly changes the subject, wiping her eyes and putting on a smile. "Hey maybe you could help me. I got this new camera from my aunt and I was wondering, since you take pictures of Spiderman, if you could show me how it works?"

"Sure, how about during lunch?" He says, a cheery smile on his face as well. Before anything else can be said the bell rings.

"Well better get to class. See you at lunch." Mary Jane says as the two dash off.

After school Peter decides to do some evening patrols around town. As Spiderman, he does some quick scans through the streets. "Really glad I could help MJ out." he thinks to himself. "With all that's happened it's nice to know I can help somebody." As he swings he passes the ESU science lab. He'd usually be there working with Gwen but Dr. Warren had given the two the day off. While circling the campus he spots a black van behind the lab and two masked figures breaking in the door.

Spidey quickly spins around and lands on the lab roof. He peers through the skylight and sees the two figures trashing the inside. One of the two wears, what appear to be metal gloves and smashes a counter, turning it into little more than firewood. The other much taller thug simply pushes vials and beakers off of the tables.

"Well well well," Spiderman says while sliding down on a web-line. "black masks and a black van in the middle of the day. Not very subtle are you?"

The taller thug turns slowly to him. "On the contrary," he says calmly, cracking his knuckles. " I was hoping to get a chance to squash Montana's bug."

Spiderman hops down onto the floor. "oh, you know old Shocky eh? So what are your handles, Stretch and Stumpy?"

The tall man smiles, then rushes forward. "You can call me Snake Marston.", he says as he wraps his body around the Web-slinger. Meanwhile the gloved thug rushes toward the now immobile hero and delivers a powerful right straight that sends Spiderman soaring across the lab, with Marston releasing his grip just in time.

"And I'm Hammer Harrison.", He says his body still assuming the fighting pose.

Marston marches over to him and slaps him in the side of the head. " Work on your aim will ya. You almost hit me!"

"If you were faster you wouldn't have to worry." Harrison replies, rubbing the back of his head.

While the two continue arguing, Spiderman, still reeling from the blow manages to lift himself up. He spots the two aptly distracting crooks, leaps in between them, sticking a hand stand and split kicks both, sending them in opposite directions. "Oh I'm sorry was I interrupting something?" Harrison lunges at him, raising his left arm high attempting to smash Spiderman against the floor. The hero leaps over him resulting in the thug ramming his fist into the ground, causing it to become stuck. As he lands down Spiderman fires a web-line onto Harrison's back and proceeds to spin him in the air for several seconds before releasing him, sending him flying into the wall, knocking him unconscious. "Well that wraps one up, now for…" Before he can finish his sentence, Marston has already wrapped himself around him again.

"I'm sure you can see the irony in what you just said." Marston says with a slightly humorous tone in his voice.

Spiderman can feel his bones being slowly crushed and his lungs having the air squeezed out of them. "Wait you can't does this." he pleads.

"Give me on good reason why I can't"

"Oh, because you can't see." The hero says shooting a stream of webbing into the eye slots of Marston's mask, causing him to loosen his python-like grip, as he screams and rips off his mask revealing his slim face and slick, jet black hair. Spidey uses the opportunity to leap out of his reach and webs his feet. He gives a swift yank causing Marston to fall flat on his back. He then jumps into the air and delivers a powerful diving kick into the criminals gut, knocking him out cold.

Spiderman takes a moment to wipe off his hands. He then feels his spider-sense kick in, but before he has time to react, pain seizes his entire body and he falls over. Before blacking out he sees a shadowed figure standing over him and hears a muffled voice say "And you wanted me to wait in the van.", just as everything goes black.


	3. Chapter 2

When he comes to, Spiderman can hear police sirens in the distance. He quickly checks his face and finds that his mask is still on. "Police must have scared them off before they had the chance." he thinks to himself. Not wanting to be blamed for another ESU incident, he decides the best thing to do is make a quick exit and leaps up through the skylight, remembering to close it behind him.

Spiderman spends the next few hours scanning the city for any sign of the getaway van, but to no avail. As he continues his search, he can't help but wonder to himself, "If those two know Montana, then they're not just your common, run of the mill thugs. Question is who would hire them, and why would they wreck the lab?" Spidey swings around to the top of a nearby building and stands on the edge overlooking the street below as he continues to ponder.

"Think Pete, Gobby, Tombstone, and Silvermane are out and so is Doc Ock. And they're the only ones with the kind of cash to hire these kind of guys. And if someone else hired them, why just have them trash a college lab unless…" He pauses, then comes to his conclusion. "That's it. If another lab hired them to ruin the lab they could take another grant away from ESU. I know there are two other labs in Manhattan. I'll check those out and get to the bottom of this." He stops and takes a look at his watch and sees just how late it is. "Tomorrow. For now it's probably a better idea to get some sleep.". He leaps over the edge and heads home, hoping Aunt may hasn't noticed the time.

At the Jackal's warehouse hideout, Marston, Harrison and Lavell, who is clad in a blue and red wetsuit-like armor holding a similarly colored mask, await their employer. "So where'd you get the suit." Harrison asks.

"Had it custom made by the Tinkerer." Lavell replies. "It lets me fire high voltage bolts of electricity among other things."

"Nice."

"Yeah, when you work around fish for a while you get some good ideas. The eels I worked with let of bio-electricity and that's where I got the idea. So I guess you can call me just that , Eel."

"Sounds a little corny but alright, welcome to the field team Eel."

"So," Marston says sitting on a crate in the corner. "How'd you afford the suit?"

"I…uh," Lavell says hesitantly, "I borrowed a little money from Montana's account, but just enough to pay for the suit I swear!"

Marston smiles casually at the newly christened Eel. "Its not me you need to explain to. Montana's the one whose going to want to know where his money went."

"Speaking of which," Harrison interrupts, "we need a plan to bust the others out of Rykers. But first we need to deal with that pesky spider."

Just then a section of the wall on the other side of the room begins to slide open revealing a secret passageway. From the shadows of the doorway the see a familiar figure emerges, Jackal. "Greetings gentlemen. I take it your mission was successful."

"Very." Marston says lifting himself up.

"Yeah we hit all the labs like you said and got everything on your list. Truth be told it was a pretty easy job."

"Are you kidding?" Eel says. "If it wasn't for me you'd be enjoying a cell in Rykers, courtesy of Spiderman."

"Spiderman?" Jackal says, slightly intrigued.

"He caught us at the Empire State lab. Turned out to be a little more then we could handle. Luckily Eel here was able to take him out of the picture and allowed us to get you these." Marston explains, handing a silver suitcase to the Jackal. The masked man opens the case, revealing three vials of varying colors.

He removes the vials from the case, open each and pours them all into a large test tube. "Spiderman is a fascinating specimen indeed." He says placing the tube in a strange holding device and flips a switch on the device, sending a small jolt of electricity into the tube causing the concoction to bubble. "But after tonight he will by no means be unique." He then switches the device off.

"What is that?" Eel asks with a curious look.

"Allow me to answer that with a rhetorical question. What did all three of the labs have in common? Each possessed a key component to this serum." He takes the now cooled contents and loads it into an odd syringe like tool. "Now to properly answer your question picture this: Mr. Harrison and Mr. Marston, two mercenaries with years of experience were defeated by Spiderman, someone who, as far as we know has no formal training and has been active for little more than a year. Now imagine if someone was able to duplicate his abilities, his speed, strength, agility. And not just duplicate, improve them."

"And I imagine someone will pay a hefty price for an army of Spider-men." Harrison says.

"Indeed, but I'm sure you're all ready to be paid. Now if you'll follow me to my office you can collect your fee." The group make their way to a room at the back of the warehouse.

As they enter the doorway Harrison stops and turns suddenly. "Hmm, thought I heard something."

"Yeah just like you thought there was a hit-man at the airport in Venezuela." Marston mocks.

"Hey that guy looked shady."

He was a two year old you idiot. Now come on we don't have time for this.". Marston says as Harrison shrugs his shoulders and the group enter the office and shut the door to complete their transaction.


	4. Chapter 3

"Peter," a voice in the distance says, "Peter wake up or you'll be late for school."

Lying face down in bed, Peter soon recognizes the voice as Aunt May's. After a short but hard struggle he manages to pull himself up and, after rubbing his eyes sees the clock on the night stand. "Oh man I overslept. Gotta hurry." He grabs the closest pair of clothes he can find and dashes into the bathroom to get dressed, rushing back to his room afterwards, reaching under his bed to retrieve his Spider costume and web shooters. "Wouldn't want to forget these." He tucks them into his backpack, slides down the railing of the stairs and dashes out the front door. "Bye Aunt May see you after school.", He says as he rushes out the door to the front steps.

After making sure no one is around, Peter dashes around the back of the house, makes a quick change into Spider-man, and swings to the next house and continues on his way to school. As he makes his way into the city he can't help but think to himself, "Really wish I could have scoped out those labs last night. Maybe I'll have more luck finding clues after school. Ah, what am I worried about? With my luck lately the clues will probably find me."

As the final bell rings, M3 High begins to empty out as the students head out to their various activities. Peter finishes packing his bag and heads for the main door when he spots Gwen Stacy. "Hey Gwen." He says in a light voice.

"Hey Peter. How've you been?"

"Great. Hey where's Harry?" he asks noting that since his father died Harry never seemed to let Gwen out of his sight.

"Oh he's fine. He and his mom are visiting some relatives in Europe. He invited me to come along but a trip across a continent isn't really for me."

"Hey Gwen hey Pete." The two turn to see Mary Jane. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything. I just wanted to say thanks again Peter for the help yesterday."

"No problem glad I could help."

"Oh Peter did my dad tell you." Gwen says, "Someone broke into the lab at ESU yesterday."

"Really?" he says acting surprised "Did they find out who."

"Well my dad says the other labs in town were both vandalized and that there was a lot of graffiti that points to an animal rights group."

"Wow," Mary Jane replies, "they really don't like people experimenting on their little bunny friends."

"What did Dr. Warren say about it?" Peter asks

"He said this will definitely be a set back, but he said that set backs occur but science always pushes forward."

"Well that's good that he's staying positive."

"Hey Mary Jane better be careful, science geek is contagious." the group turn around to find that the source of the mockery, Liz Allen standing next to the always boisterous Sally Avril.

"I don't know what you ever saw in him Liz." Sally says in her usual shrill voice.

"I guess I was just desperate." She says with a casual smile and an arrogant tone in her voice as she stares directly at Peter.

Unwilling to turn the situation into a conflict Peter decides it would be best toe leave and get to the lab on time for once. "I'd better be going before I'm late. Don't want to keep Dr. Warren waiting."

You're right Peter we should hurry." Gwen says as the two head for the door. "See you later Mary Jane."

"See you guys." Mary Jane says as they exit. Her warm, caring expression quickly changes to a stern, serious scowl as she makes her way over to Liz and Sally, who are still conversing between themselves. Ever since she and Peter had broken up it seemed that Liz had divided her time between cheerleading and tormenting Peter. Mary Jane hadn't talked to her since then but she decided it was time the had a few words. She grabs Liz by her right arm, "We need to talk, now!" she says in a harsh demanding tone as she drags her away from a somewhat confused Sally.

Peter and Gwen now aboard a bus head toward the ESU Campus. The ride seems long for Peter as he contemplates the recent events on his life, the final battle with the Green Goblin, the recent attacks on the labs, not to mention the situation with Liz. Regarding the incidents, Peter is very unsure what to think. "Captain Stacy's investigation claims animal rights activists. Marston and Harrison must have gotten to the other labs before I caught them at ESU. That would explain the graffiti, they were trying to throw everyone off the trail. Still wonder who they're working for."

"Hey Peter are you alright?" Gwen asks, breaking the silence.

"Yeah I'm alright, just doing some thinking."

She reaches over and lays her hand on his. "I know your worried about Liz. She's just a little confused right now. That's probably why she's acting this way, just give her time."

"Don't worry, after years of taunting by Flash I know how to brush off an insult." he says as the two share a short laugh. The humor is cut short however as they hear a loud boom a few blocks away. Peter looks out the window of the bus and sees a cloud of smoke. "I'll meet you at the lab Gwen." He says as he pulls out his camera pulling the stop cord on the bus and leaps out heading in the direction of the smoke.

Minutes later Spider-man is headed to the source of the smoke. He reaches the location to find a large warehouse ablaze. He can see that the fire department and police have already cordoned off the area and are attempting to keep the fir from spreading. Among the officers he recognizes Captain George Stacy coordinating the efforts. He lands down next to the Captain, who doesn't seem too surprised. " Anyone inside?" He asks.

"Just the fire crew. They've been searching but there doesn't seem to be anyone home, at least not anymore."

"So there was someone inside? Was it arsine?"

"Don't think so." Stacy's gaze never leaves the warehouse even as he speaks. "Got an anonymous tip that whoever was responsible for the recent lab break ins was hiding out inside. But when we arrived they must have started a chemical fire to give themselves time to sneak out while we kept the fire contained."

It doesn't take Spider-man long to figure out who was inside. "Well I think I know whose responsible. Do the names Snake Marston and Hammer Harrison ring any bells?"

"I'll un the names through our database and see what I can dig up. Thanks for the information."

"No problem. I'll see if there's anything else I can do." He leaps into the air and swings off in the direction of the ESU campus to meet Gwen. "Hopefully with Captain Stacy's help I can find out what those two are up to."

At the Enforcers temporary hideout, Edwards old aquarium, the team enjoy the little leisure time they have between missions. Marston lays back on an old couch watching a small television while Harrison regales Lavell with his adventures. "…and then she turns green and gets two feet taller! And I gotta say those muggers never knew what hit them." Harrison laughs as he finishes. "I really should call her now that I'm back in town."

"Forget it Harrison." Marston says turning his head slightly in their direction. "You know we can't afford to bring any unneeded attention to ourselves with that bounty still floating around."

"Bounty?" Edward says confusedly.

"Yeah a few years back the Manfredi family posted it." Harrison answers.

"How'd that happen?" He asks listening on intently to what he knows is sure to be an interesting tale as Marston switches off the television and turns his attention back to his teammates. "Well if your so keen to hear it. Back about ten years ago we were two of Silvio Manfredi's top lieutenants, charged with establishing a foothold for his operations in South America. After a few months we gained the allegiance of the government of some small country, the name escapes me. Anyway after a while Silvermane decides we've played our part and cuts us loose."

"Harsh." Lavell says as Marston pauses.

"Yeah being stuck in some other country, no job, no mafia benefits, it was rough. That is until we got a better offer. Turns out not everyone was happy with the government having it's hands in criminal dealings, turning a blind eye to the poverty of the common people while the corrupt enjoyed the fruits of others labors. So the local rebel leader, impressed with our skills, hires us to help topple the regime. Naturally we accepted and within a year we'd routed government forces, installed our employer as the new leader and ruined Silvermane's operations, sending them back home with their tails between their legs."

"And I take it he was none to happy when he found out who was responsible?"

"Needless to say." Harrison says, now leaning against one of the aquariums.

"After a while all the mercenaries and bounty hunters coming at us got tiring. The Gambono brothers, Bloodshed, Death Adder, we managed to evade them all. Then on day we run into Montana and his gang and somehow we get ourselves caught. I thought we were as good as dead, but then he offers us spots on the team. He even helped us sneak back into the States while Manfredi was in the slammer."

Lavell give a short whistle of amazement. "Wow, great story. But how…" His question is cut short by the ring of a phone next to Marston's chair.

Marston grabs the phone and puts it to his ear. "Hello. Hey doc, got another job for us?" Marston's eyes begin to slowly widen as he listens to their former client. "No we had nothing to do with that. Listen don't worry about it. We'll find out whose responsible, deal with them, and get it back. Alright we'll keep you posted." He places the phone back on the receiver and turns to the other two enforcers who are both looking confused.

"What's going on? From what I can tell it doesn't sound good." Harrison asks.

"That was Jackal. Turns out the cops raided his lab. He managed to escape but he had to torch the place."

"So why's he calling us? Not our problem." Lavell also asks.

"Try explaining that to him." Marston stretches, bending backwards until his back is almost touching the backs of his knees. "Because apparently someone switched out the vile of that spider-serum and gave him a fake. Bottom line, he thinks we did it to sell and tipped the cops off to his location."

"So we either get it back or he gives us up to the cops. That about right Stretch?" Harrison says jokingly as Marston, bent over in his unusual pose, put his head between his legs and shoots him a glare, freaking the boxer out.

"Suit up." Marston orders as he returns to his normal posture. "First priority is the Doc's serum. Spider-mans' secondary but we'll most likely encounter him."

Harrison picks up the phone and dials a number.

"Who are you calling?"

"Hey, if were gonna face Spider-man sooner or later we might as well get him out of the way. And I know just the guy to help us with the job."


	5. Chapter 4

"Get the web head." shouts a large thug holding a pool cue as he and half a dozen others surround Spider-man in a local bar.

The exact same scene had played out at least a two dozen times this week as Spider-man continued his investigation of the ESU case. "Come on guys, you sure we can't talk this out?" Spidey asks. Three of the thugs rush straight toward him. The first of the three throws a strong right jab directed at his head which he easily counters by flipping the man over his shoulder and onto a table behind him. "I guess not." He leaps over the other two, webs their backs and throws them into the rest of the group, knocking them all down.

Out of the corner of his eye Spider-man sees a man casually sitting at one of the tables on the other side of the room. He leaps over and lands on the table and stares directly at him. "You must be the head honcho. Lets talk."

The man simply takes a sip of his drink and then smiles. "No thanks." he says then lets off a sharp whistle after which from the dark corner of the room a large man appears. Spidey looks on in surprise at the criminal who stands at least eight feet tall. "Mountain get rid of him." the still seated boss says calmly. The man now known as Mountain slowly walks over to the table until he standing directly over Spider-man.

"Who, hey Goliath aren't you late for a rematch with David right about now?" the web-slinger says still slightly in awe at the size of his opponent. He leaps over the crook but Mountain quickly turns around grabbing him by the leg and throws him into the wall across the room. Before he can recover Spider-man finds himself being dragged across the floor and thrown into one of the pool tables.

Spidey barley lifts himself up before his spider-sense goes off. "Oh great." he says as a pool table flies through the air toward him. He leaps into the air and clings to the wall as the table crashes just below him. He then turns his attention back to Mountain, who is preparing to hurl another table his way. He jumps off the wall and avoids the second projectile. Mountain then charges at him knocking away anything in his path. Spidey evades to the left, causing the huge thug to slam into the wall. "Wow, I mean wow." he says, looking at all the damage caused by the rampaging behemoth, then looks bask at the now not so confident boss. Spider-man quickly turns as he hears a rustling sound behind him, only to be hit across the floor again. He shakes off the hit and sees Mountain, bruised and his clothes torn, walking toward him. Near his feet Spidey notices a billiard ball, webs it and begins swinging it over his head.

He progressively swings it faster. "Well it worked for David. I just hope it works now." he then releases the line and looks on as the ball shatters against the monstrous man's forehead. Mountain stops dead in his tracks for a moment then stumbles forward before falling to the floor. Spider-man leaps on his back and crotches over. "Lets see." he says as he looks around the room. "Question thugs, check. Beat uncooperative thugs, check. Defeat actually threatening thug," he looks down and pokes Mountain, who only lets off a weak groan. " check. And last but not least," he fires a web-line behind him and hears a loud shout. "capture the big cheese who tries to escape while your busy talking to yourself, check." Spider-man tosses the leader in the air and webs him to the ceiling. "Now where were we?"

"Alright alright already." the frustrated man relents. "What do you want anyway? Your girlfriend already trashed the place the other day and I told her all I know."

"Girlfriend?"

"Yeah she wanted info on the guys who pulled the Empire State job. She's the reason I hired Mountain down there in the first place. But apparently I'm paying him too much."

Still confused as to the identity of this "girlfriend", Spidey decides to play along. "Apparently. You couldn't beat one hero, what made you think you could take on two?" he drops to the floor. "But because I'm such a nice guy I'll make you a deal. You give me all the info you gave her and I won't cause anymore collateral damage."

"Fine if it means getting you out of my hair quicker. From what I know the guys you fought are in town working for some guy named the Jackal. He may sound goofy but the guy knows what he's doing when it comes to genetic manipulation. He's the reason you had a hard time with Mountain. He pumped him full o some experimental steroid and you see the results. Word is he's working on something big that's gonna change this city forever. All I know is that if he can do that to a loser like that, when the real tough guys show up you won't stand a chance."

"We'll just see about that." Spider-man says as he swings out the door.

The boss breathes a sigh of relief. "Glad he's gone. Wait a minute! Come back here and get me down!" He continues yelling and struggling until the piece of ceiling he's on gives way and he falls to the floor, joining the rest of the bar's unconscious denizens.

On his way back across town Spider-man finds himself thinking, "Okay so there's someone else investigating this case. The good news is she's a hero. The bad news, I have no idea who it is. Black cat hates my guts now so I don't think she'd be interested in helping me or the police. But then again who else could it be?" Suddenly he hears the sound of an alarm a few blocks away and heads in that direction until he reaches the local bank. He lands on a lamp post across the street when out of the bank emerges a figure donned in silver armor with a pair of red goggles covering his eyes and a set of antenna connected to his helmet. In either of his hands are two large sacks of money.

"Great. I'm trying to find some crazed geneticist before he litters the streets with super thugs and instead I get a reject from the Wizard of Oz." He puts his camera in place and sets the timer, webbing it in place and then leaps down behind the armored man. "Hey tin man."

"Spider-man!" he says as he turns and sees the hero.

"Yeah, so listen I'm in a hurry so I'll just take these," he fires web-lines pulls the sacks from his hands and tosses them back into the bank. "Now if you'll be so kind as to jump, skip, and hop down the yellow brick road to Rykers, I can get back to work."

"Awesome, I get to fight an actual super hero." the silver suited criminal whispers to himself. "Sorry Spider-man but you're my ticket to the big time." He charges towards the hero, who leaps over him and attempts to deliver a punch to his face. The armored criminal quickly spins around and intercepts Spider-man's blow by catching his fist in his right hand and begins exerting pressure. "Super strength dude." the criminal says.

"Uh webbing dude." Spidey shoots webs into his face with his free hand, causing him to release his grip and jumps onto the side of a building several stories up. "You may be strong but all that strength doesn't mean a thing if you can't reach me."

"True, but I think you'll find that Stilt-man always rises to the occasion." He says, having pulled the sticky substance from his goggles as the legs of his suit extend upward until he is staring the startled hero right in the face and uses his left hand to smack him from the wall onto the street. "Good banter Wilbur." he says continually praising himself. He then retracts his right leg and then quickly brings it down in an attempt to crush Spider-man, who evades the assault of continuous stomps.

After the last step Spider-man webs the left foot to the ground. "Well that end your gane of wack-a-spider." He then runs up the leg and delivers a powerful uppercut toppling the criminal and sending him crashing into the pavement. He walks over to him and inspects the armor. "This has Tinkerer

written all over …" Before he can finish his sentence his spider-sense triggers again and he jumps back. The hero looks down at the spot where he was just standing and sees a circular hole in the ground. Inside is a spiked ball which he easily recognizes as the ammo for the new weapons that had flooded the streets.

Spider-man soon finds himself dodging a barrage of the projectiles as they rain down from above. The web-slinger looks up and sees the shadowy figure of the shooter perched atop a nearby building. He uses his webs to slingshot himself at the building. Speedily flying through the air he dodges anymore projectiles before landing on the roof behind his assailant. He turns and instantly recognizes the black body-suited man. "Marston is that you? Just the guy I was lookin for. Say where's your buddy Harrison?" he asks happily.

"Oh don't worry, he'll be along shortly." Marston throws his weapon to the ground and charges Spider-man. Unlike their previous encounter, Marston attacks, not with his contortion abilities but with a swift series of punches and kicks, utilizing his ling limbs.

"See you've learned a few new moves since last time." Spidey says evading and countering the mercenaries blows before Marston lands a thrusting kick to his chest that knocks him back several feet.

"Yeah, I just needed to get accustomed to your fighting style. And now I know all your moves."

"Well do you know the one where I jump over the side of a building?" the web-slinger jumps over Marston and over the edge , but not before he connects a web-line to Marston's back pulling him over the side. He lands on a lower building and slams the criminal against a building roof below. "Guess you don't it then. Now lets talk about this Jackal." Just then he hears the loud roar of an engine and feels a powerful gust of wind behind him. He turns around to see a helicopter piloted by Harrison, it's gattling gun already rotating.

When the bullets start to fly, both Spider-man and Marston jump from the line of fire. Marston leaps onto the side of the chopper and climbs inside the open hatch. "Alright Eel your up." he shouts as Lavell, completely suited gives him a thumbs up and leaps onto the roof. He instantly targets Spider-man and scores a direct hit with an electrical blast.

Spidey recovers and takes a look at his new foe. "Wow, a blue and red costume and electrical powers? You are so gonna hear from my and Electro's lawyers."

Eel lets off another burst of energy that forms a sphere the size of a pumpkin and hurls it at the hero. Spidey dashes to the right, avoiding the energy ball. "Come on hold still bug." he says firing several more shots.

"Bug. Wow you really do know Montana." he says as he fires a web-line to higher building and swings around to perform a midair kick to Eel's chest , knocking him into an air conditioning unit, tearing a hole in his suit. HE jumps back up and fires another blast, but the energy is sent back into the suit causing the villain to scream before passing out, after which the surge dies down. "Shocking development… glad no one heard that." Before he can react Spider-man is blasted across the roof by a missile from the chopper knocking him out.

Marston leaps out of the copter and lifts Eel back inside, then gives Harrison the signal to finish the fight. Harrison locks on and prepares to fir. Just before he pulls the trigger something covers the front glass. "I can't see!" Harrison says as the chopper shutters. "Something hit us from behind!"

"Get us out of here, we need to get Eel back to base." The chopper pulls out and vanishes in a matter of seconds.

"Spider-man. Spider-man, are you okay? The web-slinger hears a voice say as he regains consciousness. As he opens his eyes and looks up he is stunned to himself. Well someone whose costume strongly resembles his. The main differences being the all red gloves and boots, the lack of the criss-cross web design , a long ponytail hanging from the back, and the main difference being this. Spidey is female.

"Oh my head." Spidey says as he sits up. "Where'd they go?"

"Don't move too fast. You got hit pretty hard." After she sees that Spider-man's alright she takes a few steps to give him some space.

"You must be the one that guy at the bar was talking about. So who are you?"

"Well lets see." she says as she climbs up a wall. "I've got spider powers and I'm a woman. Put it together and what do you get?"

"Okay, uh… Spider-woman, where'd you come from? How'd you get your powers?"

"Uh uh, sorry can't give away trade secrets." Spider-woman playfully wags her finger.

"Okay, so why have you been asking around the local bars."

"I heard there was something big going down so I wanted to find out who was the ringleader. Turns out its some guy named the Jackal."

"Yeah I heard about that. Anyway thanks for the assist. I appreciate it."

"Hey no problem, you've saved my life more than once. It was the least I could do. To bad those slime balls got away."

"Well one out of four isn't bad in my book." Spider-man says referring to Stilt-man.

"Um you might want to take a recount." the other says as she points over the edge of the building.

When he peers over the building all Spidey sees is an imprint in the concrete where the armor clad crook was. And when he turns around he sees that Spider-woman is gone as well. "Aw man." After collecting his camera he makes his way back home. "I wonder who she is. She said I saved her before. Blonde hair." His eyes widened as he comes to a startling revelation. "No, it couldn't be. Could it?"

At Enforcers HQ the team arrive to "lick their wounds" and along with them a doctor for Eel. While the doctor examines their teammate, the other two go about their usual routine. "I can't believe we list him again!" Marston says as he plops down in his chair and turns on the television. "Had him right in our sights."

"Not only that but we lost our chopper too. Do you think the cops will find it at the bottom of the river?" Harrison asks.

"Yeah the next time you decide to pull one of your screwball landings make sure I'm fully conscious." Lavell says as he makes his way over in his civilian clothes.

"He's alive!" Harrison says jokingly "So what's the damage?"

"A few minor burns, nothing serious. My suits' insulated to protect me from feedback so when it got punctured zero protection."

"Hey maybe we should get some suits too Marston. Like the others."

"A suit wouldn't do me any good, can't improve my abilities like that." Marston turns his attention back to the tv and alerts the two. "Boys you might want to take a look at this."

Marston turns up the volume as they look on at a special news report. "And here is exclusive footage shot by an amateur camera-man only moments after it began." The group can't believe their eyes as they see a second web-slinger attack the helicopter. "As you can see, there appears to be a second Spider-man fighting an, as of yet, unknown opponent."

"Hey Harrison, call the Doc." Marston says. " I've got a pretty good idea where his serum went."


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Spidey is swinging across town on his way to school. "Can't believe I overslept again." he says as he swings around the corner of a skyscraper. "Spider-Man able to cling to walls, shoot webs, and manage to break the school tardy record. Then again in my defense yesterday was a bit of a shocker. A new hero sure makes the new villain load a lot lighter. And if your right she might be the girl you've always had feelings for."

As he continues through the city he notices a news stand and lands on top of it. He grabs an issue of the Daily Bugle with one of his webs and drops the money down to the owner. As he reads his eyes begin to widen. "Spider-man Robbery Stopped by Good Samaritans?" he reads. "Spider-Man and his new accomplice were thwarted in their attempt to rob the 1st National bank by an unknown civilian who put their life on the line to stop the two criminals who are sadly still at large." Spidey crumples the paper and throws it into a nearby trashcan. "I can't believe this. You cure his son, stop a gang war and jolly Jameson still has it out for you." He prepares to swing off when he notices a thick green fog roll in. Everyone around quickly begin to panic as a whirlwind of smoke forms and makes its way atop an armored car. It quickly dissipates and reveals the source of these events, Mysterio the master of illusions.

"This armored carriage and its contents now belong to Mysterio, master of the mystic arts." the villain announces.

Spider-man hops onto the other end of the car. "Wow, really feels like we've done this before. You show up to steal something, we fight, I expose you for the fraud you are…"

"Insolent whelp. You dare call the great Mysterio an imposter. Fool , Mysterio is a master of the Arcanum." His hands glow with a bright orange energy. He points his hands in the hero's direction just before he is knocked off the roof of the car by a blue and red figure.

"Spider-woman, what are you doing here?" Spidey asks.

"Green fog season isn't for another two months." She says sarcastically. "So I came to see what all the fuss was about."

As the two converse, Mysterio lifts himself from the street. "Fools you believe superior numbers can defeat the almighty Mysterio?" He shouts.

The heroes end the conversation and turn back to the villain. "Is he always like this?" the female hero asks.

"Yeah but you know, the whole magic schtick is starting to grow on me." Spidey says as the villain begins to levitate, his hands glowing again.

"I call upon the powers of the dread Dormammu. Cause your fires to rain down on these infidels." Immediately balls of fire begin to fall from the sky directly at the heroes. As the projectiles fall Spider-man leaps directly into one as it passes harmlessly through him. "Don't worry they're just illusions." He tells the female hero before on strikes a nearby car and explodes as she looks at him in disbelief. "Mostly their mostly illusions." As the duo evade each and every projectiles coming their way. Spider-woman dodges on last shot and heads straight for Mysterio, kicking him square in the chest sending him flying on his backside.

The fish-bowl headed villain raises his hands once more, but before he can do anything Spider-man webs his gloves off of his hands. Spider-woman rushes forward and delivers a powerful punch to the villain knocking him out, after which the illusions cease. Spidey then jumps down and grabs him by the front of his suit. "Alright Misty games over." He says. Suddenly he hears a beeping sound as Mysterio's helmet begins to glow red. "Oh come on, this is getting old." He tosses the android into the air and a few seconds later it explodes.

As the remaining fog begins to dissipate, Spider-woman waves to Spider-man. "It was fun teaming with you again, but I've got somewhere to be." She says before swinging off.

"Midtown high perhaps?" he ponders as he watches her leave. "Can't be late myself." He says as he shoots a web and heads for school.

Peter slides into class just as the tardy bell rings. "That scuffle with Mysterio took longer than I thought." He thinks to himself.

"It would seem you are just in time Mr. Parker. I was just handing out the pop quizzes." Professor Warren says.

As Peter takes his seat he notices that Gwen isn't present in class, although he had a pretty good idea why that was. He was all too familiar with the amount of time spent changing in and out of his costume. After several minutes Gwen finally arrives, exhausted and breathing heavily. "Ms. Stacy, glad you could joining us." The professor says seated at his desk. Gwen picks up a quiz and makes her way to her seat next to Peter, who gives her the occasional glance as he takes his quiz.

When class lets out Peter and Gwen walk out of class together. "What happened this morning ?", Peter asks. "It's not like you to be late for class."

"Yeah I got held up this morning." Gwen answers as she opens her locker and grabs her books for her next class.

"The same thing happens to me all the time. Hey wasn't Harry supposed to be back today?"

Gwen closes her locker and turns back to Peter. "He called today and told me there was a big earthquake, grounded all flights for at least the next three days."

"I hope he'll be alright." As they make their way down the hall he decides now is as good a time as any to ask Gwen. " Hey Gwen there's something important I need to ask you."

"What is it."

"Not here. How about after school, we can grab something to eat."

"Alright I'll see you then." Gwen says as she walks into her next class.

Hours later Peter is well on his way to meet Gwen, looking down at the address she had given him. As he walks he continues rehearsing what to say to her. "So…Gwen anything interesting happen lately. Seen any movies, went to any new places, got any spider powers? No that's terrible Parker. I probably should have put more thought into this before I asked. It's a good thing I decided to walk instead of swing, gives me a chance to thik of a way to explain everything to her."

When he arrives at his destination he sees that this is not just an everyday burger joint. The building is massive, having, if Peter counts correctly at least 48 floors. As he enters he looks at the directory and establishes the restaurant is on the twenty-third floor. After arriving on the proper floor via the elevator and meets with Gwen outside the restaurant.

"Peter, you made it. Thought you'd be busy taking snapshots of Spider-man." She jests.

"You kidding? I wouldn't miss this for all the Spidey picks Mr. Jameson would pay for."

"And we know that's not many." She says as the two begin to laugh. "Well lets go, I have a table reserved." Gwen walks to the Maitre de. "Stacy table for two." The man checks the reservation list. "Ah here we are, right this way please." He leads them to a table in the center of the room. As they are seated Peter looks around and sees a man sitting alone in the corner of the room with a suit case chained to his wrist.

"Wow Gwen this place seems really expensive." He says looking over the menu.

"When Harry left he gave me his credit card. Told me to treat myself to whatever I wanted. Plus as soon as I mentioned the Osborns, they were tripping over themselves to get me a reservation as soon as possible. So Peter what did you want to talk about?"

Peter takes in a deep breathe. "Alright Pete this is it." Before he can say anything however, he is interrupted by a disturbance at the door. Everyone turns to see a man in a long trench coat trying to force his way into the restaurant, with several employees attempting to hold him back. After only a few seconds he smacks all of them away.

Having disposed of anyone in his way he removes his coat revealing himself to be Stilt-man. "Alright nobody move!" he says as he makes his way across the room, passing Peter and Gwen and stands over the man with the suit case. "Okay pal fork it over." The man backs into the corner clutching the case tightly. "So that's how you want to play it huh. Fine well do this the hard way then." Stilt-man grabs the chain and effortlessly snaps it in half taking the case.

"This guy has the worst possible timing." Peter grabs Gwen by the arm and slowly leads her to the exit. As soon as I get Gwen out of here I'll take care of this goon." Just before they are out the door Peter's spider-sense is triggered. He suddenly finds himself slammed against the wall by Stilt-man's extendable leg and knocked out cold. The last thing he hears is Gwen's scream.

When he comes to, Peter finds himself dangling hundreds of feet in the air. At first it seems like a dream. But he soon realizes that this is no dream as he looks above and sees Stilt-man holding him under his arm with the case in the other. He makes his way through the streets and notices his hostage has regained consciousness. "Sorry about the poor accomodations buddy. But I needed a hostage and you were as good as any."

"Oh no problem, beats taking the bus." Peter knows that sooner or later he'll have to make a choice on whether to remain a prisoner or blow his identity by using his powers.

"You should really consider taking the subway. In my experience it's faster."

A voice says above the two as they look to see Spider-woman clinging to a nearby building. "I think you have something, or rather two things that don't belong to you." She says as she looks at Peter.

Stilt-man stands motionless for a moment looking at her. "Well aren't you gonna say it?" he asks.

"Say what?"

"The drop line. You know, you tell me to let go of the hostage. I say something cool like 'as you wish'. But instead of lowering him to the ground safely I literally drop him from death-defying heights and use that time to escape while you try to prevent him from becoming street pizza." Stilt-man himself falls backward from the action and flat on his back on the street below.

As she lowers Peter to the ground the crowd begins to applaud. "Thanks for the save." Peter thanks her.

"Peter. Are you alright?" Gwen says as she runs through the crowd and hugs him.

"Well there went that theory." Peter thinks, as he now knows who the hero isn't. "I'm fine all thanks to Miss…"

"Spider-woman's the name. Glad I could help. But next time you might wanna keep a tighter grip on your boyfriend." She webs Peter's left hand to Gwen's right hand as the two smile at each other. Just then the silver villain pulls himself up. "Everyone get back." She says as she leaps back into the action. Stilt-man retracts his legs and performs a hand stand pointing his legs one backward and one forward, extends them and begins to spin, resembling a large propeller blade.

The attack catches the heroine completely by surprise as the villains telescopic legs take out the windows and walls of nearby buildings. The large crowd of onlookers, Peter and Gwen included, are now taking cover behind a row of parked cars. Spider-woman leaps over the attack and lands on the wall of a nearby building above the villain. "Well I'm not hitting him from down there so…" she looks down and aims for her target. It takes only a few seconds for her to perform a diving kick into the only part of Stilt-man not protected from above.

Stilt-man's attack abruptly ends as his legs hit the ground, unraveling along the street. The villain himself lays flat on his face, writhing in pain, unable to speak but gasping for breathe . Spider-woman lands in front of him and crouches down to look at him. "So how do you like my high-low attack? Get it, because I come from high but I hit you down low." She taunts, his only response, a weak high-pitched groan. "Well I can see y brand of comedy is wasted on someone like you. So I'll just leave you here for the cops and I'm going to go find someone with a sense of humor. And not that you'll be moving anytime soon but…" she webs him to the ground and swings off.

As the heroine departs the bystanders begin to emerge from their hiding places, including Peter and Gwen, who have managed to remove the webbing holding them together. "Wow now that really made me work up an appetite. So Pete, what do you say we grab a burger and finish our conversation."

Peter looks up as he realizes his whole reason for meeting Gwen has been rendered pointless in light of the recent events. As he prepares to speak his phone rings. "Hello. Oh alright, I'll be right there." Peter hangs up the phone and turns to Gwen. "That was the Bugle, I got to go. Well talk later." He runs off and hails a taxi. "Thank goodness for wrong numbers."

The next day Peter makes his way to the Bugle to hand some pictures of Spider-man catching a group of crooks earlier that day to Jameson. As he enters the editing floor, he makes his way to Jameson's office, where he is greeted by Betty Brant.

"Peter how are you? Are you alright?" she says surprised to see him.

Peter himself looks at her confusedly. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Betty grabs an issue of Today's issue of the Bugle and shows Peter the front page photos of him being carried off by Stilt-man and then rescued by Spider-woman. He is shocked as he skims the article. "Everyone was worried about you when Mr. Jameson showed us the photos."

Peter places the article back on the desk. "Yeah if it weren't for that Spider-woman I don't know what would have happened. By the way Betty do you know who took those shots? They got some really good angles."

"Well, she didn't stay long. But she looked about your age with long red hair. Now I remember. Her name was Watson, Mary Jane Watson."

Peter is stunned by this news. "Oh Betty I just remembered I was supposed to meet my someone for dinner. Can you give these to Mr. Jameson?" he excuses himself handing over the folder of pictures, exiting the building to follow his new lead.


	7. Chapter 7

At Midtown High everyone is collected together in their respective groups conversing about anything and everything. As Peter Parker arrives through the front door however, everyone stops and stares at him. After a few seconds of awkward silence they all gather around him, bombarding him with questions. "I guess you guys all read the Bugle huh?" he says feeling a bit crowded.

"Make way everybody. Give the guy some room." Flash Thompson says, Sha Shan Ngyuen standing next to him and the rest of the group not far behind. The large crowd of students disperses as Flash and his friends make their way to Peter. "So Parker, how's it feel to be on the front page a second time?" He says referring to the "Identity" fiasco.

"It's a lot more fun now then it was when the picture was taken believe me." He tells the group.

"Yeah but come on." Kenny says, "How awesome was it to be saved by that Spider-woman? She was hot." He stops himself and looks back at a not too pleased Glory Grant. "Uh not that I care if she was hot or anything, because I got you babe."

Randy pats him on the back. "Nice save bro." he says humorously.

"Hey everybody." A voice from behind the group says as they turn to see Liz Allen with a rather determined expression on her face. "Peter could we talk? Just you and me?"

Though hesitant at first Peter agrees. "Sure Liz. I'll talk to you guys later." Liz leads the way down the hall as Peter follows.

"Uh oh post break-up fight." Kenny says only to be elbowed in the stomach by Glory. "What I say?"

As he follows Liz, Peter can't help but feel he knows where this is going to lead. "Liz probably just wants to get in another scream session. Better brace for it." He thinks to himself as they round a corner and stop.

Liz takes in a deep breath and then breaths out. "Peter I'm sorry." She says in a calm voice, taking Peter completely by surprise. "I've been giving you a hard time lately and you haven't done anything to deserve it. The only thing you've done is be a good friend, even though I didn't deserve you as one."

"Come on don't blame yourself Liz. I should be the one to apologize. After all you've been through the least I could have done was be there for you."

"It's okay Peter. Look I know you like Gwen. And I know she really likes you two. And I should have handled it better than I did. I just wanted to apologize for everything and if you ever need anything I'm here to help."

"Thanks Liz, appreciate it."

"No thank you Petey," she kisses him on the cheek. "for everything." She walks down the hall and disappears from sight.

"I take it my little talk with Liz paid off." Mary Jane says from behind Peter. "Hope you don't mind tiger."

"Not at all MJ. Actually I wanted to talk to you."

"Sure. What about?" Peter reaches into his backpack and pulls out yesterdays issue of the Bugle. "A little birdie told me you're quite the photographer."

Mary Jane lets out a short sigh. "Well I guess it was only a matter of time. I just didn't think it would be so soon."

"Something you want to tell me MJ?"

"Can you keep a secret Pete?" she asks as he silently nods. "I started taking pictures of that Spider-woman for the Bugle. It's part of the deal we made."

"Deal?"

"It was about a week ago. I was on my way to the bus stop when I heard some noise coming from an alley nearby. I went to check it out and that's when I saw her. At first I thought it was Spider-man. She was fighting some thugs who were robbing this old man. She beat most of them pretty easy but one of them had a gun and she didn't even see him. I yelled out to warn her and the guy turned and aimed at me. Lucky for me she was quick with those webs. After she was finished with him she thanked me for the help and said she owed me one."

"So what happened then?" Peter asks, increasingly intrigued.

"I told her about Mark and asked if she could help find who was responsible. She agreed and said she'd follow some leads. Meanwhile I'd take photos of her for 'promotional reasons'. She contacted me two days ago and told me she got a few leads."

"So that's how you've been getting those shots of her?"

"Yeah, but you can't let anyone know about it. You remember what happened when everyone thought you were Spider-man."

"Well that's kind of hard to forget. And don't worry my lips are sealed."

Later that day Spider-man swings through the city still sorting through all the information he'd taken in ."I don't know I can believe MJ's story. I mean her story seems convincing and it does make sense, but it could just be a really good cover story. A cover story I wish I had come up with when Eddie tried to expose my identity." As Peter ponders this possibility he spots something out of the corner of his eye. He turns to see a sight he can't believe, Spider-woman perched atop the Empire State Building dangling a civilian by the foot. "What is she thinking?" he asks as he hurriedly makes his way to the building and begins scaling the side. As he gets closer, he listens to the conversation between the two.

"Okay Gaxton last chance." Spider-woman says clearly frustrated. "Where is he?"

"Sorry girly wouldn't tell you anything even if I knew." The bookie says rather calmly.

"Oh really? You're a bookie Gaxton. How about 3 to 1 odds of you making a disgusting splat when you hit the pavement?"

"Is this a private interrogation or can any web-head join? Spidey says as he lands next to the two.

"Oh great itsy bitsy is here too. Do me a favor and tell your girl here to let me down."

"If that's what you want." The female hero releases Gaxton's leg and swings off as the bookie plummets toward the ground screaming."

"Oh man!" Spider-man immediately goes after the bookie. It only takes a quick and focused dive to reach him and he lands the two on a rooftop nearby, after which he webs Gaxton's feet to the ground. "Just in case I have questions later, I'll be back when I can." He says as he swings off after Spider-woman.

"Don't hurry." Gaxton says annoyed as he tries to remove the substance from his shoes.

Spidey pursues the other hero and after a short time locates her hopping across rooftops. He then leaps in front of her. "Hold on a second. I know your new to the super hero game, but last time I checked heroes don't hurl innocent bystanders off of buildings."

"Blackie Gaxton isn't the first name that comes to mind when you use the word innocent. Besides I needed information and he knew more than he was telling."

"So that justifies you throwing him off a building?"

"You wouldn't get it. You wouldn't understand."

"I understand more than you know Ms. Watson. That's right I know who you are and I want some answers."

Spider-woman says nothing as she stares at him for a moment before charging straight at him and leaping over his head, swinging off. Not a second after, Spidey is quickly on her heels as they weave through buildings and hop over roofs. As the chase continues Spider-woman spins around and fires a barrage of web-shots in an attempt to slow Spider-man down, but the web-slinger seems to dodge them almost effortlessly. As they race across a long roof Spidey uses his exceptional agility to bound forward and ahead of her. "Hold it I just want to talk." He says as he blocks her path.

"That's funny, because I don't." Spider-woman says as she jumps up, planting her feet firmly in Spider-man's chest, knocking him on his back and darts off. Before she can get far however, Spidey gets to his feet and fires a web-line to her back, yanks her backward and slams her against an air conditioning unit.

He walks over to her and pulls the mask from her face. As he holds it he notices that the long blonde ponytail is still attached. "A wig, I kind of figured." He then turns his attention back to Spider-woman. "Alright time to talk Ms. Wat…" he cuts himself short as he sees the heroine's face. One he recognizes but not the one he expected as she lifts herself up, and after finding her mask gone simply sits on the edge of the building. "I know you. You were one of the girls I saved from Molten-man."

"Yeah my names Liz Allen. Molten-man, Mark is my brother."

"Okay now I'm really confused. Let's start from the beginning of the story if you don't mind."

Liz sighs then takes in a deep breathe. "It all started about three weeks ago. My friend Mary Jane spotted you going into the ESU lab so she snuck around back.

"She was following me?"

"Well she actually wanted to talk to you. You see she and I were hoping to get your help in finding out what happened to my brother. But when she got to the entrance she saw that someone had broken in so she went around front and she saw you inside fighting those crooks. She called the police during the fight but they didn't get there in time to catch the guys so she followed them herself to some old warehouse and snuck in after them."

"I guess I have to thank her for saving me. So what did she find?"

"When she got inside she said there was some kind of lab. After a while some guy named the Jackal showed up. It turns out he hired these guys, Marston and Harrison and I think there was another guy there, to steal some chemicals to make a formula that could copy your powers. He made it right there and then and when the four of them left the room she snuck in and switched it out as fast as she could and made an anonymous call to the police. But before they could get there…"

"They torched the place. I got there just as the place went down. What did you do after that?"

"Mary Jane called me and we discussed what to do with the formula. After a while I said that one of us should use it on ourselves and get out in the field, you know draw these guys out of hiding."

Spider-man is both shocked and impressed with the girl's ingenuity. "So you volunteered yourself? Sounds a little risky."

Liz then gets to her feet and continues. "I figured even if it was untested this guy must have known what he was doing. Anyway, after I made my own costume, got out there and I've been investigating while Mary Jane's been taking photos and getting them in the paper to coax him out. That's why I was so rough on Gaxton, he was one of my brother's contacts, and knew a lot about what goes on in the crime world."

"Wow impressive work. And you've really done a great job with handling your powers. And that's why this is going to be really hard for me to ask, but I need you to stay out of this."

"What? But why? I can help you. Besides this guy's responsible for what happened to my brother."

"And that's what makes you too close to this. I don't want you doing something you'll regret later. Just look at what happened with Gaxton. What would have happened if I hadn't been there?" For your own good stay out of this." He tosses her back the mask and swings off. "I hated to do that to Liz, especially after all she's been through. Still can't believe it was her under the mask all along. Even with her powers she still doesn't have the experience, and I'd ha for her to get hurt. This Jackal sounds like he could be the baddest guy to hit New York since the Green Goblin and I haven't even seen him. Hopefully Blackie has the info I…" As he looks down where he left the bookie, he sees only the left over webs and chunks of the roof that looks like it had been ripped out. "It's official, I'm gonna have to stop underestimating Gaxton."

"I can't believe him! Can you believe him?" Liz says furiously as she paces up and down her room as Mary Jane Watson leans against the wall attempting to calm her down.

"Maybe Spidey's right Liz. I mean what if you did run into this guy? What were you going to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Were you gonna turn him in or…you know?"

"No,of course not. How could you even ask that? Your just as bad as him." Liz accuses as she puts on her costume, removing the wig and sliding her natural dark hair through the back.

"Liz just calm down. Where are you going anyway?"

Liz turns to her head to her as she sticks one foot out the window. "I need to clear my head. Just lock up on your way out."

As Spider-woman she swings through the streets, contemplating her next move. "What am I going to do? I'm so close to helping Mark but now, now I don't know. Spider-man says he wants me out and he knows who I am. Think Liz, there has to be something you can do."

Just then she spots a bright light out of the corner of her eye, and before she can react she is jolted by a blast of energy that sends her flying onto a roof. Before she can regain her senses she is struck by a shadowy figure in the face. The blow almost knocks her over the side of the building. The figure is then joined by two more as they walk over to her."

"Haven't seen you around girl." One says.

As her vision straightens out, Spider-woman can now clearly see the three attackers. The first wearing a blue and red costume, the second wearing a pair of knuckle-dusters is the one she identifies as delivering the last blow, and the third unusually tall man who casually walks toward her. "Stay back." She shouts as he continues his advance.

"Calm down kid, if we wanted to finish you we'd be done already. Just want to talk. The name's Marston, Snake Marston, that's Hammer Harrison, and that's Eel." He offers his hand to help her up.

Spider-woman accepts his hand and is lifted on her feet. "You know a simple, 'Hey Spider-woman over here!' would have been preferable to being blasted."

"Yeah we could have, but this way is so much more dramatic." Eel says as he walks over. "But that's beside the point. We have a deal you might be interested in."

"Really? Well I'll hear what you have to say but make it quick, I've got an 11:30 appointment across town."

"Oh don't worry we'll get straight to the point." Marston says. "We work for avery talented employer."

"The Jackal, yeah I know all about him."

"Well I guess we can skip that and get straight to the point then. He knows you took his serum and he wants it back, simple as that."

She instinctively jumps back ready to fight. "Getting it might not be as easy as you think."

"Relax kid the doc doesn't want you he just wants a sample of it from your blood." Harrison says. "You'd still be able to keep your powers and do your little hero thing. He's even willing to offer you a tidy sum if you cooperate."

The heroine relaxes and considers the offer. "You can keep your money. I want to meet him, in person. Otherwise you guys can do this the hard way."

"I can see we're not going to dissuade you easily." Marston notes. "I'll call the doc and let him know. Be at the docks at 10:00 tomorrow night, and come alone." He and the other two turn to leave. "Oh and one more thing, if you want this to go down right, there's just one wall-crawling factor you might want to take out of the equation." The group then leave Spider-woman on the roof.

"You really think she'll take out Spider-man?" Harrison asks.

"If she really wants to meet the old man that badly then yes. If not, then I need you boys to make a purchase, just in case."

The next day Spider-man is finishing his rounds in town before calling it a day. As he swings through the air he spots Spider-woman hailing him from a roof top.

"Hey Spidey. Now I know what you said the other day but I need you to listen." After a few minutes she finishes informing Spider-man of the night's happenings.

"So they want you to come, alone, and you agreed? You might not know a trap when you see one, but this is pretty obvious."

"Look I know this seems dangerous but this might be my only chance." She says defensively.

"You do realize what he wants from you don't you? If he makes that serum he'll have an army of spider powered thugs. I can't let that happen. I'm coming with you."

"No way! If they even smell you the deals off and I might never get another chance. I'm going alone, that's final!"

As she turns to leave Spider-man grabs her by the wrist. "Over my dead body." He insists.

Spider-woman immediately spins around and kicks him in the chest sending him across the roof. "Actually that was another part of our deal." She says as she walks slowly towards him, cracking her knuckles.


	8. Chapter 8

As night falls on the city, the enforcers, wearing long trench coats, sit at the docks awaiting their guest. "It's five past ten, she ain't gonna show." Harrison says as he checks his watch.

"Shut it Harrison, she'll be here." Lavell replies. "We'll give her another ten minutes."

"Aw you guys waited for me? I didn't know you cared." Spider-woman says playfully as she hops down in front of them.

"Weren't going anywhere without you." Harrison replies.

"Yeah sorry, I like to be fashionably late, besides I brought you something." She tosses a familiar looking red mask to the thugs.

"Marston's gonna love this. We should probably get going, Marston and the Doc are waiting for us." The group walk over to the edge of the dock as Harrison reveals a motor boat which the three hop into. After the long, silent ride they arrive at the destination, an old rusted cargo ship anchored outside the harbor. Lavell maneuvers the small craft right next to the huge vessel ad shuts off the engine. Harrison reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small remote and presses the single button, after which a ladder descends from the side of the ship down to the motor boat.

"Ladies first." Lavell says to Spider-woman, gesturing to the ladder. She, however simply clings to the side of the ship and begins to make her way up. "That works too." He says as the two Enforcers make their way up as well.

As they reach the deck Harrison takes the lead. "Right this way." He leads the group down into the depths of the hold, into the dark dimly lit hallways seemingly devoid of life, with only faint sounds resonating in the distance. "And here we are." He announces after a few minutes. As they round the last corner, Spider-woman is struck with awe at what she sees, a fully functioning lab that, as far as she can tell is as large and sophisticated as the ESU laboratory.

"Welcome my dear, welcome. We've been expecting you." A voice says from behind a lab table. Spider-woman can see that this is the person she has been trying so hard to find, the Jackal.

She looks the scientist over. "You're the Jackal huh? You're not exactly what I pictured when I thought ominous evil scientist."

"Indeed." The scientist chuckles lightly. "I understand you insisted on meeting with me in person? Well if you'll come this way we can make the exchange." The doctor leads her to the lab table with a prepared syringe on top which he promptly picks up and turns to her. "I'm glad you decided to accept my offer. I hope my serum is serving you well?"

"Yeah it is!" Harrison says excitedly tossing the mask over to the doctor. "She took down Spider-man no problem."

"Impressive indeed." He says as he sticks the needle into her arm and extracts the blood sample. "I had hoped to test the subjects powers against the originals and it appears it exceeded my expectations." As he moves to put the sample into a cold storage unit his hand and the vile are webbed to the table. The group suddenly look up to see a very alive Spider-man.

"Well,well,well." The web-slinger says as he hangs from the ceiling. "Nice place you got here. Hard to find though, I had to take three speedboats, seventeen buoys, and a seagull to get here."

"Spider-man!" The two Enforcers shout. "You're supposed to be…"

"You'd think that, but no. We duped you." Spider-woman says mockingly.

Harrison points at the mask on the counter. Before he can say anything Spidey webs it back to him. "Yeah I kind of need that back, I've only got two."

"Always with the jokes huh Spidey?" A hissing voice comes from the shadows.

"Marston is that you." Spider-man says landing on the floor. "I knew someone was missing."

A second later the last Enforcer emerges with scaly brownish green skin and yellow eyes. "Yeah it's me kid. Had a feeling this might go south so I had the doc whip up another formula with snake genes. But that's not all. Harrison, Lavell now." Lavell pulls out his Eel mask and puts it on then unleashes a burst of energy that vaporizes his jacket, revealing the rest of his costume, while Harrison pulls off his coat to reveal a silver and blue armor covering his chest and arms, with six cylinders on each wrist.

"So Spidey, just curious was this part of the plan?" Spider-woman says nervously.

He looks over the now stiff opposition. "Sadly it is now."

Eel opens with an electric burst between the two heroes causing them to separate. Harrison charges at Spider-woman raising his left hand to deliver a powerful straight. The heroine manages to avoid the attack and his fist connects with the floor, causing a huge explosion which sends her tumbling into a wall. "How do you like that?" Harrison says as the smoke clears and the cylinders on his left arm rotate. "Each one of these babies carries an explosive charge to give my punches a little more kick."

"Punches a little more kick? Isn't that a double negative or something?" she says as she staggers to her feet.

As Spider-woman continues her fight with the newly powered boxer, her male counterpart isn't fairing much better against his opponent. As Spider-man tries to avoid Marston he finds that the criminal's augmented abilities put him on par with him. The web-slinger leaps onto the sealing only to have the scaly crook follow his exact movements, grab him by the legs and throw him to the floor. Eel then fires a concentrated shot directly at Spider-man knocking him into a lab table. As Marston approaches him Spidey fires two lines of web to his legs and attempts to pull. Marston, however, grabs the webs and pulls them from his body and instead begins to swing the wall-crawler by them and slams him into the wall. Eel fires yet another blast, hitting him directly as he screams in pain before passing out. "Not so fun when you're on the receiving end huh kid?" Marston chuckles as he hears another explosion behind him. He and Eel turn to see the other spider tossed across the room lying unconscious as well.

Harrison walks over to join the other two. "Well that didn't take long. Hey where's the doc? Must have panicked and took off. So should we find him?"

"No not just yet. There's still one issue that needs to be addressed." Eel says as he suddenly turns and blasts Harrison, immobilizing him.

"Lavell what are you doing?" Marston shouts just before being shot as well and falls flat on his back as Eel stand over him. "What is this?"

"I think it's called paralysis. Oh you mean blasting you both. Yeah that's called collecting a bounty. You see a while back before I joined the team I took a contract from the Manfredis. My mission was to infiltrate the team and in time get you two into their custody. Suffice it to say, this has been a long time coming."

Marston strains as he tries to move. "So how much are they paying you?"

"Let's see, nine times two, carry the eight, um, Montana's full bank account. That's right all the money the Enforcers ever made all for me. And with the others in prison and you and Harrison swimming with the fishes, no one can stop me from becoming New York's number one crime boss."

"And you think for a second Sable Manfredi is just going to stand down and let you do all this?"

Eel can't help but laugh. "Sable Manfredi? Please, she's a spoiled mafia princess. As soon as any real pressure is put on her she'll fold like a bad hand of cards in a poker game. And as soon as the mob's out of the way it'll be my time to shine as the new Big Man. No! Not the Big Man. Edward Lavell, the Kingpin of Crime!" As he finishes telling them his plan, Eel is struck in the chin by an uppercut from Marston which sends him staggering backwards.

"You done ranting yet?" Marston asks as he manages to stand up straight, with Harrison joining him. "Knew if I kept you talking long enough this would wear off."

"Yeah appreciate the consideration." Spider-man says standing behind Harrison and Marston with Spider-woman next to him.

"So what do you say we call a truce to take out this worm?" Spider-woman says with both the Enforcers giving a silent nod.

"The name is Eel! Remember it!" Eel begins firing, separating the group as they dash for cover. "You may have delayed my plans for the moment but I'm an unstoppable force. I've worked too hard to let the likes of you stand in my way." He continues to fire all over the room as the others try to come up with a plan.

Marston looks over the top of the crates he is hiding behind and gestures Harrison to move around to Eel's side. Spider-man jumps over the top of the table he is behind as Eel takes a shot at him, and joins Marston. "Web-head I need you and the girl to draw his fire while Harrison flanks him."

Spider-man peers over the crates to see the crazed criminal firing in all directions. "Yeah, that'll be easy." He says sarcastically as he motions to Spider-woman to go over the top. They simultaneously leap out and fire webs at Eel before leaping onto the ceiling.

"Bad move bugs." Eel says as he takes aim at the duo.

"So was that." Harrison says as he charges for the high powered thug. At the last moment Eel turns and throws a punch that connects with Harrison's, causing an explosion much bigger than the last. As the smoke clears Harrison is flat on his face, electricity coursing through his armor as he manages to pick himself up. Eel too rises, his suit badly damaged with several large gashes in it and the right half of the mask completely burned away. Before he can do anything further, Marston rushes in and delivers a knockout punch.

With their common enemy defeated, the Spiders land down next to the Enforcers and shank hands with the two. "Good work team." Spider-woman says as she shakes hands with Harrison.

The boxer himself smiles lightly as he thanks the two. "Truce off." He says quickly, still holding the hero's hand and uses his free hand to deliver a powerful punch to her gut, causing another explosion sending her flying across the room.

"No fair, no fair I call do overs." Spider-man says as Marston also tries to grab him. Spidey immediately jumps back up to the ceiling, with the serpent like mercenary close behind. Not a second after his feet touch the surface the web-slinger pushes himself back toward the floor and directly in Marston's path. "Your mother never warned you about the dangers of following strangers did she?" he says as he punches the thug square in the face sending him plummeting downward. As he hits the floor Spidey stands over him. As he turns to check on Spider-woman, Marston leaps up without warning and wraps his arms around Spider-man and begins constructing him like their first encounter, only this time the web-slinger notices it's a lot stronger.

"The good thing snakes have over humans is that they're all muscle." Marston says. "Something else they have is unhingable jaws." His lower jaw widens revealing a row of razor sharp teeth in his mouth, which he slowly fit over the hero's head.

Just then Spider-woman manages to shake off Harrison's last blow as she witnesses the horrific sight. "Spider-man!" she yells pointing her arm in their direction to fire a web shot, but instead of firing webs a green, mist-like energy fires from her hand, hitting Marston, who immediately releases his grip and falls to the floor.

"What. I can't move. What did you do to me!" Marston shouts as he strains his body in a vain attempt to move.

"Wish I knew." She then rushes over to Spidey as the energy fades from her hands, and helps him up. "You okay?"

"Now we just need to find Jackal and we can get out of here." He says as he hears rustling behind them. They turn to see Harrison standing, his armor filled with cracks and falling apart.

"You gotta get past me first." The boxer says, staggering toward them. "It's not over until ones left standing. So come on, show me what you've got." He lifts his arms and gets into form ready to continue. Spider-woman however, simply fires a web line to each of his gauntlets and crosses her arms causing the knuckles of his gloves to connect, causing an even larger explosion. The duo don't even wait for the cloud of smoke to clear before they continue searching, confident he is down for the count.

The two search the area until Spider-woman finds the scientist cowering under one of the lab stations on the far side of the room. "Look at what I found." She says as she drags him out over to Spider-man, taking back the vile of her blood. "I'll take this back. Now what about answering those questions of mine?"

"Sadly that agreement is now null and void." Jackal says as a small empty vile falls from his jacket. He easily knocks her to the ground as Spider-man leaps into the action, only to be effortlessly deflected by the masked scientist. "And you should now consider your life forfeit. And when I'm done I'll extract as much serum as I need from your lifeless husk." He lifts her in the air by her throat as she struggles in an increasingly futile effort.

Spidey fires two web lines to the Jackal's feet and yanks knocking him on his back, allowing Spider-woman to get free as she lays on her back holding her throat to catch her breathe. Jackal lunge toward Spiderman tackling him and pinning him to the ground by his neck as he raises his free hand, which now more resembles an animal's claws than a human's. "I had really hoped to study you but it appears you are more trouble than your worth." He says in a more bestial voice.

"The story of my life." He says as he sees one of Harrison's gauntlets on the ground, webs it and pulls it as hard as he can, sending it directly into the Jackal, causing another huge explosion that hits them both blasting them to opposite sides of the room. "Oh man gotta remember not to do that again." When Spidey gets up he looks around the room and sees a red and blue piece of cloth. Feeling his face he soon realizes it's his mask. When he reaches over to it he sees Spider-woman staring in shock at him. He quickly pulls it back on and slowly walks over to her. "I. uh maybe we should take care of this mess first."

Before Spider-woman can responds they hear groans coming from the other side of the room. The two make their way over to see Jackal crushed under a pile of debris. "It would seem you are more resourceful than I anticipated. It's a pity all the data will be lost." He lets out one last cough before his body falls limp. As the two heroes reach to help him his body turns to dust, leaving only his clothing and mask behind.

"That was unexpected to say the least." Spider-man says as red lights begin to flash and an alarm begins to sound throughout the ship.

"Security compromised. Ship detonation in five minutes." A voice says over the ship's intercom.

"Why are villains always such sore losers. Come on we better round up these guys and get out of here." As they retrieve the villains they notice Eel has mysteriously disappeared.

"I'll find him he couldn't have gotten far you take this and get the others back to the boat." Spider-woman says as she tosses the vile to him and swings through the hull.

"Wait there's no time." He shouts as he puts the vile in a pouch in one hand then throws the two enforcers over his shoulders. "Be careful Liz." He thinks to himself as he heads back to the boat, starts the engine and hesitantly leaves just before the ship explodes. By the time the police and fire department arrive they find only the burning ship and the two Enforcers left dangling from a light pole.

The following day Peter makes his way outside of Midtown High. "Liz wasn't in class all day. I searched for hours looking for her last night. I hope it doesn't mean what I think." He says as he heads to the side of the school to change. As he reaches into his bag his spider sense goes off and before he can react, however, he is pinned to the ground. As he looks up to see his attacker's identity, he is surprised by whom."

"Hey Petey." Liz says playfully perched on his chest. "I don't suppose you could spare a few minutes from you hero schedule to talk."

"Uh sure Liz, but could you..?" he says as Liz lifts off him. "So where do you want to start?" Peter takes her through his adventures from the spider bite, uncle Ben's death, all the way to his final fight with the Green Goblin.

"Wow, I had no idea you'd gone through so much. And I didn't make it any easier."

"It's alright Liz. Consider it water under the bridge. So did you ever catch Eel?"

"No, I searched as long as I could before it was time to leave. He probably didn't make it. After his plan failed he might be better off."

"Maybe, but what are you going to do now?"

"Well I still need to find the Jackal, the real one, and find out what he knows." She says as the two begin to walk. "And as long as I've got these powers I can still help you out, because by what you told me, you've got your hands full." She pulls out an issue of the Bugle with the headline: 'Sinister Spider Responsible for Freighter Fire'. "How do you put up working for Jameson?"

"It's an acquired taste. And don't worry about the blood sample I have it locked in cold storage."

"So I guess it's settled then, we're a team now. And I won't tell Mary Jane. She'll want to know all the details but I think I'll leave out one very important part."

"Thanks for all the help Liz. Just curious though, how'd you learn to make your own web shooters?"

She looks at him slightly confused. "Web shooters?"

"Wait you mean you make your own natural webs?"

"Yeah don't you?"

"Please tell me you are not getting back together." Sally Avril says coming up from behind the two.

"Come on Sally just because we're not dating anymore doesn't mean we can't hang out." Liz says attempting to calm the noisy blonde, who simply stomps off in frustration.

"How do you put up with that all the time?" Peter asks.

Liz turns to him with a smile. "It's an acquired taste."

The End


	9. Epilogue:What goes around

In a private room in one of New York's finest restaurants, Sable Manfredi, better known as Silver Sable, enjoys a quiet meal alone. Two guards silently enter the room. Sable doesn't appear to acknowledge their presents and continues dining. After she has completed her meal she looks at the two, who still wait patiently. "What is it?" she asks.

"It's Lavell ma'am. He wishes to speak with you." They say in unison.

She gestures for them to send him in. The two nod and exit the room. A moment later they return with a badly beaten and bruised Eel. "Edward what happened?" she asks alarmed at his current state.

"I'm afraid I've failed Ms. Manfredi." He says hesitantly, his right eye blackened shut. "Marston and Harrison escaped thanks to the spiders. I am prepared to receive my punishment."

"There's no need for such dramatics Edward." Sable calmly assures him. "I've been informed that they are in police custody and on their way to Rykers as we speak. It may not be the way we planned it but it's good enough for me. As we agreed you now have direct access to the Enforcers accounts. And why don't you take a long vacation on me?"

Lavell smiles in surprise. "Why thank you Ms. Manfredi. You are too kind."

"No need to thank me Edward. After all I wouldn't want you to think I was a Spoiled Mafia Princess."

"What." He says now slightly alarmed.

Sable puts a small device on the table and presses a button on it. Immediately Lavell's conversation on the freighter is played. "You didn't think that I'd give you a suit without putting in my own personal touches, like a listening device." Eels one good eye opens wide with fear. "I may not command the same respect and fear my father did but as long as I'm around I won't let anyone steal his empire, least of all you. And I may not be Silvio Manfredi, but let's see what kind of punishment this princess can come up with."

The guards grab Lavell by his arms and drag him out of the room. "No, please no, no!" Eel shouts as he is dragged out of the room into the hall as the door shuts behind the three. Sable, still seated begins to contemplate the many threats to her father's empire, not simply outward but now possibly inward as well.


End file.
